15. Lara
”But why do they need to have a fire, Papa? It”s not cold out.”
I glance at Amanda and smile. She”s looking at our father inquisitively as he guides us through the campsite toward the bonfire.
”It”s not about making us warm, sweetie,” Papa says, taking Amanda”s hand. ”And you want to have s”mores, don”t you?”
”I just don”t want to get too hot,” my sister says.
”Then don”t stand so close to the fire, pea-brain,” I tell her, taking her other hand.
She looks longingly toward the river. ”Can we go swimming instead?”
”Nah,” Papa tells her. ”We”ll go to the bonfire for a while, then you girls can head off to sleep.”
Amanda lets out a huff. ”Well, can we go swimming tomorrow before we leave?”
”I don”t know why you”re so obsessed with swimming lately,” I say, rolling my eyes.
”Because it”s fun!” she exclaims and giggles. ”And it”s fun swimming with you. And everyone… especially Dylan.”
A flash of heat burns across my face at the mention of him. My lips still tingle from the kiss we shared. And he”ll be at the bonfire.
What if we go off again on our own?
That”s not going to happen.
I have to watch Amanda, and there”s Parker, too. I can”t drop everything and go off with Dylan even if I want to… even if his knee-weakening kisses are the only thing on my mind.
”Oh wow!” Amanda shrieks.
I glance ahead as Amanda runs in front of us.
Mr. Caldwell and Carter are lighting the old wooden pallets and logs stacked in the middle of the clearing up ahead. As we get to the outer ring, more people are showing up. I lay out a blanket and kick off my sneakers. After sitting, I inch over to the edge and sink my toes into the soft grass. The air is warm and sweet, with the smell of summer honeysuckle growing nearby. The fireflies are out, too, and the rush of the river makes for a perfect backdrop.
”I”m going to see if Malcolm needs help,” Papa says. ”You girls stick together.”
As Papa walks away, Amanda looks at me and frowns. ”Do we have to sit on the blanket?”
I grab her arm and pull her to sit next to me. ”We don”t have to stay the entire time. But there”s not much to see right now, and it”s better than running around and getting in the way while they light the fire.” I point at some ranch hands with logs and items to start the fire. ”You don”t want to get tangled up in that, do you?”
Amanda and I watch as they light the wood, and it makes a whoosh sound as a ball of fire erupts into the air. Amanda crab walks backward on the blanket, trying to get farther away. ”No. I don”t want to be near that! Why”d they pour gas on it? Can”t they just light it? Papa doesn”t do that when he”s lighting the fireplace.”
”The gas gets it going faster,” I tell her, leaning on my elbows. ”But only for outdoor fires. You definitely wouldn”t use gas in an indoor fireplace… the whole house would be up in flames.”
Amanda nods, staring at the fire as it gets bigger. I glance up at the evening sky, watching the stars shine above our heads.
”Hey,” I tell my sister. ”Lie back with me.”
”I”m not tired.”
I lean up. ”I don”t want you to sleep. Just lie down and look at the stars.”
She lets out a huff and stretches out next to me on the blanket. ”I”ve seen the stars before, you know.”
”I know you have, silly.” I reach over and playfully pinch her. ”Can you find any constellations? The ones I taught you?”
”Hold on, let me see—” Amanda points her finger and drags it across the sky. ”There”s the big dipper. That”s it, right?” She traces each star with her finger.
”Yep. Do you see any others?”
”Mmhmm.” Amanda points to the right. ”That”s Orion”s belt. Those three stars in a row.”
”Right again. You”re getting good.” I grab her hand and bring it to our left. ”How about this one?” I trace the five stars with her finger. ”Do you remember what this one is?”
”Cassiopeia, right?” she asks. ”It”s the one that looks like a W.”
”Correct.” I sit up. ”You can find them faster than I ever did at your age. Maybe you”ll be an astronomer when you get older.”
She smiles. ”I”d rather be an astronaut.”
I can”t help but chuckle. ”I guess you could be both. Astronomy goes with the territory if you”re going to explore space.”
”Do you think I could?” Amanda sits up and leans on my shoulder.
”Why not? But you”ll probably have to do better in math if you”re going to be an astronaut. There”s a lot of calculations involved when you go into space.”
”There is?” She sighs. ”Maybe I”ll settle for astronomy.”
I let out a laugh just as Dylan comes over. That same rush of heat from earlier runs through my entire body.
”Hello, ladies,” he says, crouching down. ”What”s so funny?”
”Becoming an astronaut,” Amanda says. ”Did you know you have to do a lot of math?”
Dylan looks confused. ”Uh, no. You going to be an astronaut?”
”Not anymore,” she tells him. ”I hate math.”
”Gotcha… I think.” Dylan grins. ”They”re setting up a table with all the fixin”s for s”mores. I thought you two would be interested.”
Amanda jumps up quickly. ”Yes, please! Lara, can we go? Can we?”
As I get up, Dylan holds out his hand.
”Allow me,” he says with a cocky smirk, and I take his hand, hoping the darkness hides the blush on my cheeks.
How can a smirk be so sexy? Or maybe it”s just Dylan. Everything about him seems to set me off.
As we walk across the clearing to a couple of tables, Dylan”s arm bumps into mine a few times, searing my skin each time it comes into contact. I replay the moments from earlier in my head again and think about how much his kiss affects me.
Am I ever going to go back to just being friends with Dylan?
I have to, I tell myself.
I”m with Parker, and that”s that. Dylan and I are friends, and that is also that. Now that I think about it, where is Parker? I haven”t seen him since the roast.
”Have you seen Parker?” I ask Dylan as we reach the table.
Dylan shrugs, grabbing three sticks. ”Haven”t seen him… Maybe he left.”
I roll my eyes, taking a stick. ”He didn”t leave. He”s around somewhere.”
”Did you get me a stick?” Amanda asks, coming between us.
”Dylan has you one,” I tell her. ”And I bet if you ask nicely, he”ll put a marshmallow on it for you.”
Amanda looks at Dylan and grins. ”You will?”
”Anything for you, cupcake.” Dylan grabs a couple of marshmallows and sticks them on the end of Amanda”s stick. ”Does your sister need help, too?”
Amanda giggles. ”She always needs help.”
”Thanks, Amanda.” I stick my tongue out at her, then hold my stick out to Dylan. ”If you”ve got an extra marshmallow, I”ll take it.”
Dylan grabs my stick and spears the end with a fluffy white blob. ”My pleasure.”
I flash him a smile before turning back to my sister. ”All right, you ready? Let”s go torch these babies.”
As more people show up to the bonfire, we head to get a spot next to the flames. Luckily, the sticks are long, so we don”t have to get too close.
Dylan stands next to me, bumping against my hip occasionally.
I should step away from him, but I don”t want to. I”m having too much fun accidentally bumping into him. And if anyone wonders why we”re together, I can tell them he”s helping to watch Amanda.
I don”t want to use my sister as an excuse for spending time with Dylan, but she does come in handy.
”When do we know they”re done?” Amanda asks.
”When it”s good and toasted,” I tell her. ”How does yours look?”
She holds it out of the flames. It”s almost black. ”I think it”s toasted.”
”It”s perfect,” Dylan says, taking her stick. ”Let”s get the rest of the S”more. Lara, you about done?”
I look at my marshmallow. It”s almost as black as Amanda”s. ”Yep.”
We grab a few paper plates with graham crackers and chocolate on them. Dylan helps Amanda slide her marshmallow off her stick and onto the chocolate, then does the same with mine. I can”t help but smile like an idiot when he hands my plate to me.
”What about yours?” I ask him. ”You need help?”
Dylan shakes his head. ”I”ve got it. Why don”t you go to your blanket, and I”ll join you?”
The thought of Dylan sitting with us gets me excited. ”Okay.”
Amanda and I head to our blanket and sit down, making sure there”s enough room for Dylan when he joins us. I glance around, scanning the nearby crowd for Parker, but he”s still nowhere to be found. At this point, I don”t care where he is, but if he sees Dylan hanging around me, he”ll be angry.
A minute after we get settled, Dylan shows up with his paper plate and three water bottles tucked under his arm. I grab the bottles from him as he sits, forming a circle.
”I thought you”d get thirsty after all this stickiness,” Dylan says and takes a bite of his s”more.
”Thanks, Dylan.” Amanda unscrews the lid of her water bottle and takes a sip. ”I was thirsty.”
”That was thoughtful of you,” I tell him and take a bite of my s”more. The chocolate is more melted than I thought, and some drips down my chin.
Before I can clean it, Dylan wipes my chin with his thumb. My mouth drops as I watch him put his thumb to his lips and suck off the chocolate. I glance at Amanda to see if she”s watching, but she”s preoccupied with her s”more. Thank goodness!
Dylan is grinning at me.
I mouth the words quit at him, hoping no one around us saw what he did. Parker will punch Dylan right in the nose.
”Ready for another?” Dylan asks, catching my eye as he takes my plate and runs his fingers over mine.
”Yeah!” Amanda jumps up and runs to the S”mores table.
”I think I”ll stay here,” I tell Dylan, trying not to look directly at him. ”Can you watch my sister?”
Dylan tucks a lock of hair behind my ear.
I bat his hand away. ”What if someone sees?”
”It”s dark.” He stands and looks down at me. ”Who”s going to see us in the dark?” He smiles and gives me a wink, then heads to join Amanda.
Leaning my head back, I let out a long exhale and look at the stars again. I don”t want to admit it, but I can”t wait until he returns.
About ten minutes later, Amanda returns to the blanket with two plates. Dylan is following, looking just as good as when he left in his jeans and a white T-shirt.
Amanda kneels beside me and hands me a plate.
”Thanks, sis, but I don”t need another one.”
”But it”s fun watching you eat them.” Dylan sits beside Amanda, facing me. He takes a bite of his s”more and smiles at me.
He really needs to stop.
I take a bite of my s”more, making sure I don”t get any of it on my face this time. ”You know, you guys were gone a long time. You didn”t happen to eat a s”more over there, did you?”
Amanda giggles as she takes the last bite of hers. ”Dylan said it was okay.”
”Oh, did he?” I give Dylan a discerning look. ”You”re going to get sick.”
”No, I”m not,” Amanda says, folding her paper plate and grabbing her water bottle. ”I”m a growing girl.”
Chuckling, I take another bite. ”I guess you are, but that doesn”t mean you need to eat three s”mores.”
As I watch the bonfire, Amanda jumps up and starts pointing.
”They have sparklers! Lara, can we please get some sparklers and go down to the river?”
”I don”t know about going to the river, but we can get some sparklers.” I stand and look back at Dylan. ”You coming?”
”Of course.” He gets to his feet and follows us to a group of kids playing with sparklers. There”s a table set up with hundreds of sparklers, and Mr. Caldwell and my dad help to make sure the kids aren”t lighting the sparklers themselves.
I walk over to him. ”Did you get a s”more?”
”Not yet. I”ve been busy helping out.” Papa holds up two sparklers and lights the ends. They start sparking instantly as he hands them to Amanda and me.
”Dylan needs one,” I tell him, pointing to him with my sparkler.
Dad lights another sparkler and hands it to Dylan. ”I know you can handle it, son, but we”re lighting them before we give them to the kids. I want to set a good example.”
Dylan chuckles. ”Not a problem. Thank you, sir.”
Amanda takes off and dances around with her sparkler, making designs in the air and waving it over her head. Dylan and I stand to the side, holding ours out and waving them in circles.
”So, where”d Parker go?” Dylan asks. ”I thought he”d find you by now.”
I look around and sigh. ”Haven”t seen him.”
”Good for me then.”
I look at him. ”Oh, yeah?”
Dylan takes a step closer. ”Because that means I get you all to myself.”
My mouth goes dry, and I whisper, ”I”ve got Amanda.”
”And she”s with her friends at the moment.” Dylan leans closer. ”What if I wanted to take you back in those shadows and kiss you again? What would you think of that?”
I am on fire.”Dylan?—”
”Oh, there you are!”
It”s Sloan, and we glance at the high-pitched voice approaching, instantly obliterating the moment.
”I”ve been looking everywhere for you,” she exclaims, batting her lashes at him. ”Where”ve you been?”
He holds up his now-dead sparkler. ”Been right here. What do you need?”
”Um, your cousin is looking for you,” she says, glancing sideways at me. ”He sent me to come and get you.” She starts to pull him away just as Amanda returns.
”I”ll see you later,” Dylan says over his shoulder as Sloane pulls him away.
I look at Amanda and smile. ”You ready for another one?”
”Another s”more?” she asks, her eyes looking gleeful.
”No, silly. Another sparkler.”
”Oh. Haha. Yeah!” She runs to our father to get another from the table.
Letting out a sigh, I follow her over, glancing across the clearing to see if I can see where Dylan went. But he”s out of sight, and the promise of our kiss in the shadows has been thoroughly extinguished.
For now.